Protests may delay bill to curb RTI Act

New Delhi: A bill that seeks to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act to take away "file notings" by bureaucrats from public exposure might not get past Parliament during the current session, thanks to stiff opposition from activists, academicians and the Left.

The proposed cabinet-approved amendments to the RTI Act seek to exclude most file notings from the purview of the law.

According to the amendments to be introduced, only "substantial notings relating to social and development issues" will be made available for citizens to see and read.

With nationwide protests gaining momentum and with Left MPs pitching in, a section within the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government feels the bill be referred to a standing committee of Parliamentarians for a review.

"This could happen as there are MPs who want the Government to have a re-look at the amendments. We will take a decision soon," a source said.

Many of those protesting maintain that the amendments, if passed, could mean a deathblow to the RTI Act.

The proposed changes would effectively mean that though the decisions of the Government would be known, the basis on which they have been taken would not be made public.

The proposed amendments would also deny any access to the identities of bureaucrats who write their observations in the files and there would be no access to information on decisions taken during the entire process of policy or decision making.

"This means nobody would be able to question delays in any sector. It clearly shows that most political parties are under pressure from corrupt bureaucrats who want to repeal this act through backdoor manipulations," says Magsaysay Award winner Arvind Kejriwal, a fervent RTI campaigner.

The protests against any dilution of the RTI Act are getting louder. Social activist Anna Hazare is on indefinite hunger strike in Mumbai.

Three former Supreme Court judges – J C Verma, V R Krishna Iyer and P B Sawant - issued a joint statement lending support to Hazare.

In their joint statement, they said, "The people have a participatory role in a republican democracy and under such circumstances there is no justification for such an amendment to RTI Act which seeks to unreasonably and unconstitutionally restrict the people's right to know."

An activist and also a Magsaysay winner, Sandeep Pandey, has also undertaken an indefinite hunger strike here while sit-in protests are taking place all over the country.

Signature campaigns are on and so are online petitions.

A campaign to save RTI Act was kicked off Aug 8 with a youth group submitting a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a performance by pop band Euphoria in New Delhi.

"All over the country, every day people use RTI to get ration cards, passports, even water connections without paying bribes. But under pressure from bureaucrats, the same Government that introduced the act wants to amend it," says founder of Satark Nagrik Sangathan, Anjali Bharadwaj.

It is a New Delhi-based group committed to promoting accountability in Government functioning.

When the law was enacted last year, Manmohan Singh said RTI could become a key to improving governance by cutting corruption and ensuring that public service delivery goals were met.

Now the Government has decided to amend that very act.